2016 wasn’t the best year for torrent sites. More than a few sites went down, largest of them being Kickass Torrents, with the owner being arrested in Poland and convicted of copyright infringement. Many mirror sites appeared in the meantime, and while some offer a complete list of torrents, others are actually scam sites asking from users financial info. Some of them also went down, some stayed alive; users must be wary of scam sites and never share their financial details in order to not get scammed.
The situation made The Pirate Bay to again become the most popular torrent site, with lots of users choosing to search for torrents on it after multiple similar sites went down. But, Kickass Torrents may return, even if its owner is behind the bars. As Tech Times reports, Kickass Torrents site is expected to return in February 2017, as KAT.cr. An interesting turn of events, especially since many Kickass mirrors, proxies and lookalikes went offline.
Despite Kickass returning in 2017, one thing that could make torrent sites to become less popular is the fact that Netflix started offering users a download feature, allowing them to download their favorite movies and shows on their devices, perfect for people who don’t want to be constantly connected in order to watch Netflix content. While this may end piracy, we still think it will just make it less popular. As we all know, Netflix isn’t available in some countries, and in many countries where streaming service is available, it doesn’t offer full content since it must oblige local copyright laws, making specific shows not available if someone else bought the rights to show them before Netflix became available.
The Pirate Bay spokesperson stated that The Pirate Bay isn’t really worried about the site’s fate since there are more and more torrent sites going offline. The people behind The Pirate Bay believe the site will never be flagged by Google as a repeat offender. Nevertheless, more and more countries are trying to fight piracy harder than ever, forcing users to search for legitimate sources in order to watch their favorite TV shows and movies.
While piracy could get less popular in the coming years, it will probably never disappear, unless the whole world starts a crusade against it. There is just too many sites, and authorities will never manage to shot them all down. Also, unless some company offers a streaming service that will offer a full library in every country, with a highly competitive price, the users will keep using torrent sites.